The first to turn around was Asama who was managing the fire's intensity. She had lowered the fire's setting in preparation for the next morning, but now she tilted her head.

"What is it, Masazumi?"

In the night sky above, the moons were moving into the west and the heat was gradually rising and vanishing.

Eight giant white and black ships hung in the sky and even the campfire's heat was fading in the forest clearing.

Masazumi put her hands on her hips as she viewed that fire.

"I'd like to start the next meeting before long, but listen. It would be best to head back to our base camp sooner rather than later, right?"

"Eh!? Masazumi, isn't it a little soon for that!? We need to enjoy our late-night snacks a while longer!"

Mitotsudaira turned around while eating a large piece of cooked chicken at the table next to the weakened campfire.

Mitotsudaira frantically held up her large chicken skewer.

"And we haven't prepared tomorrow's breakfast yet. Wrapping meat in leaves and placing it in the embers while dreaming of tomorrow morning is a crucial event!"

If possible, she wanted to delay the meeting and put off having to return to their base camp.

After all, that was where the tent she shared with her king and the others was.

That in and of itself was not a problem. What is wrong with a knight serving her king? Yes, this is a good thing. It is the proper way of things. However...

...My mother is here!

There was no real problem with her king and Horizon who were viewing the night sky through a telescope with Persona-kun and some others, but then there was her mother. She had yet to inform her mother that she was sleeping in the same tent as her king.

"...And she is going to have a field day with that one..."

She had no doubt about that. It was an absolute. You could call it a universal truth.

Her mother was sure to say "My!", climb into the tent, secure her own spot, try to sleep in the nude, tease Mitotsudaira, and attempt something with Mitotsudaira's king.

In fact, he had been marked by her in the past.

...I cannot allow that to happen a second time!

She had to protect her king from her mother.

After all, her king generally put up no defenses whatsoever.

That was why Mitotsudaira was setting up some preemptive defenses by taking time to cook the full supply of meat she had brought with her.

By using up their time here, her mother would have less time for her field day.

So...

"I-isn't it a fantastic dream? Just imagine the wonderful aroma when we dig this up near the campfire tomorrow morning!"

"What a weird dream. ...But anyway." Masazumi lightly pointed into the southern sky. "We've gone over most everything about the current situation and we know most everything that's going on at Houjou thanks to the observations from the Musashi. We want to return to the Musashi as quickly as possible tomorrow, so it would be best to complete the next meeting soon."

"That's right," said Mitotsudaira's mother from a log chair near the campfire. "We barely exchanged any information at all in our earlier discussion."

Mitotsudaira agreed with her mother. She might not be able to avoid the meeting, but...

"R-right!? We should exchange a whole lot more information, shouldn't we!?"

"But Hexagone Française Vice Chancellor...to be blunt, you're here."

When she heard Masazumi's comment, Mitotsudaira spread her mouth horizontally and gasped.

...That's right! My mother will be Musashi's enemy!

She was not just the enemy of her and her king's morals.

The battle had yet to officially begin, but her mother would eventually be their enemy.

However, her mother lightly waved her right hand back and forth with a smile.

"That isn't a problem. The only thing about the battle we could discuss would be making requests for who duels who in Odawara Castle's central circle. And discussing our strategic intentions only makes it easier to make peace afterwards." She shrugged. "Besides, if you're being this cautious, my mere presence here will keep you from making any kind of plans and then you would end up losing. ...Or are you planning to find a way to keep me out of a closed-room meeting once we arrive on the Musashi?"

"Mother...couldn't you just leave?"

"Eh? But I don't have a ship."

Adele raised her hand and smiled as if she already knew the answer.

"Um... Just out of curiosity, how did you get here?"

"Testament." The mother smiled. "From above to below."

"You jumped down, didn't you!? You must have! Did you even use a descent spell?"

"What are you talking about, Nate? A small height like that is perfectly normal."

Mitotsudaira was at a loss for words when her mother placed a hand on her cheek and smiled.

She did not remember it since she had been unconscious at the time, but her mother had to have been carrying her king during that jump at IZUMO.

...Her physical ability is downright nonsensical.

Meanwhile, Masazumi tightly crossed her arms.

"Hmm," she groaned.

Vice President: "Oh, I've mostly made up my mind already. This is just a show for the Reine des Garous, so don't worry, okay?"

Hori-ko: "Judge. I assumed you were trying to come up with another highly destructive pun."

Vice President: "Well, this is the werewolf queen, so maybe something about how she and her daughter seem more like hair-wolves than werewolves? ...What? You can laugh if you want."

Me: "Now she's trying to force it!"

But Masazumi took a breath and faced Mitotsudaira's mother.

"Our general plans are as we mentioned earlier. And we can say a lot more tomorrow, so there's no need to rush things here."

However...

"I would like to exchange some information on what's happening elsewhere and around us. ...Would you be willing to do that?"

Masazumi stopped there.

...I see.

That was a topic where their position as enemies or allies was irrelevant.

They would be exchanging information either unrelated to their battle or that would have no effect on their battle.

Everyone must have understood that because a brief silence fell.

Then a voice joined the quiet crackling of firewood.

"That is an excellent decision." Mitotsudaira's mother smiled. "And I do have one additional piece of information for you. ...Earlier in southern Paris, an Hexagone Française mercenary corps took independent action. It brought down a Hashiba supply fleet. And," she said. "The Genbu of the Four Sacred Beast gods of war was apparently seen there."

When she heard those words via divine transmission while she polished the ironware, Naomasa looked up into the sky.

The polishing rag she was using had sesame oil soaking it. That fragrance did not seem to suit the refreshing night air.

But as if to hold that fragrance up into that air, she held the polished iron pot in the moonlight to check on its shine.

Smoking Girl: "Urquiaga, which one of us will deal with that?"

Uqui: "I will fight alongside Narumi. Who gets sent where will be up to Neshin-...up to someone else."

Novice: "Heh. Looks like I've been requested by name."

Laborer: "Why would you interpret it that way?"

Novice: "Experience! It's all about experience!"

Mal-Ga: "Not that it matters, but you two are hard to tell apart right next to each other."[1]

I was thinking the same thing, silently added Naomasa.

...I guess I'll have to figure out something if I'm going to have definite anti-god of war equipment...

The Suzaku primarily fought hand-to-hand, but that was because she specialized in martial arts. It was too late for her to start learning how to use a sword or spear, so she had made the right decision there.

However, long-distance attacks were the standard in aerial battles.

And using weapons was the standard even in ground battles.

With Michiyuki Byakko's striking power or a technique like its Roar Deterioration, she would be able to power through such things, but that was not how the Suzaku worked.

And she did not have free use of its Four Sacred Beast acceleration.

...Would a rifle be my best bet?

That had worked well against the Shirasagi.

Asama's spell had handled the targeting while the Suzaku performed the actions needed to fire on the targeted location.

She had learned how to control the Suzaku more precisely and that had made good use of that knowledge. But...

"...I guess I can't fight an enemy god of war with a sniper rifle."

"What about using homing rounds like we do?"

That came from the Technohexen who were washing pots and iron plates behind her.

It was true there were homing rounds like the ones they used, but in that case...

"I'd be helpless in a close-range battle. A Musashi god of war needs to be able to fight both ground and aerial battles. I could always select different equipment depending on the circumstances, but the homing rounds would only be useful in aerial battles. Not to mention that my opponent would use them too."

And to be blunt...

"The Suzaku still isn't familiar enough with the sky to fight an aerial battle with a rifle."

"Have you been doing any flight training?"

She had been doing some ever since IZUMO.

She could fly alongside the Musashi just fine, but an actual battle would be difficult.

The difficulty of pulling off the movements was part of it, but...

"It's hard on me as well."

"Do you not place any gravitational control buffering on yourself, Masa-yan?"

"When I do that on Suzaku's shoulder, the buffering changes can't keep up with Suzaku's movements and sometimes I’m nearly swept right off."

Naomasa finished checking the shine of the pot's surface. There was no oil on the edge, so she lowered it and wiped it down again. The Schwarz Hexen reflected in the bottom of the pot held an iron plate up toward her.

"You're the type that won't do anything until it's perfect, aren't you?"

"Oh, so she's a lot like me?" asked Naito.

"No," said Naruze. "In Naomasa's case, she doesn't let the reasons pile up. She doesn't think about it at the preparation phase like you do, Margot. ...She simply lists off the negative reasons for something and then gives up."

That was actually fairly accurate.

...Well, I've built my daily life out of the things that survived that process, which makes things easy.

Everyone had a lot of things they cared about, but they would have far fewer things they truly cared about.

She had simply kept those things nearby and gotten used to it.

She had had the luxury to fortify herself with only the thing she truly cared about and view everything else as extraneous.

...Then again...

She had to be changing somewhat since she was actively trying to get involved in the fighting.

Smoking Girl: "Since we'd be fighting Hashiba, there's a good chance those weird gods of war we saw in Novgorod would be there. Me, Urquiaga, Narumi, and… I guess Yoshiyasu would have to stay on the front line to deal with them."

Tonbokiri: "Could I join that battle as well?"

Silver Wolf: "I could fight against them well enough too, so I could help."

Wise Sister: "What about you, Asama?"

Asama: "Eh!? Oh, um, if we're talking about gods of war, well, I can get away with it a bit. I already did that at Novgorod. You know, say the impact arrows are for disarming them."

Tenzou made a quiet comment while washing dishes at the sink.

"I just felt an incredible wave of relief wash over me..."

Smoking Girl: "Then is there any point in me fighting too?"

Asama: "I can't fire all that many anti-god of war shots in a row."

Novice: "And the enemy would not deploy gods of war anywhere near where Asama-kun is."

Hori-ko: "That would be where negotiating over our requests for the battlefield layout comes into play."

Me: "Ah! Then I could invent a new tactic where I crossdress as a busty black-haired shrine maiden so they think I'm Asama!"

Wise Sister: "That's right, foolish brother! Odawara will see the debut of a stylish crossdressing tactic where you disguise yourself as Asama and hide the real one behind you! Then you can let the real one step out while you yell 'Bwahhhh! It was me all aloooong!' "

What's the point of that?

Flat Vassal: "But, but. Doesn't that mean we're safe as long as we're near Asama-san?"

"Hee hee," laughed Mary as she washed the dishes. "We're safe near you as well, Adele."

Yeah, she is a shield... silently agreed Naomasa.

As for the others and those above...

Uqui: "So if we have both Asama and Adele with us, we'll be safe?"

Me: "Would Adele be in front?"

Silver Wolf: "But then Tomo can't shoot."

Wise Sister: "Oh, she'll still shoot."

Flat Vassal: "P-please stop this! I just felt my butt shudder!"

Asama: "And why are you continuing this conversation without me!?"

Isn't that the usual way of things? thought Naomasa.

But the others had accepted her suggestion like normal.

She knew they would not forget about it and she was thankful for that. Basically, they would make use of what she said without looking into the reasons behind it too much.

...The Four Sacred Beasts, hm?

During the negotiations with Oushuu and Sviet Rus, her job had been to protect the Musashi, so she had not been involved with the Seiryu.

If the Suzaku reacted when she met another of the Four Sacred Beasts, would her sister wake up again?

No, she could not say that had actually been her sister during the battle with the Byakko. In her opinion, that had to have been the ether revealing her sister's 'mold'. But...

"Well, that doesn't matter."

Naomasa called out to Masazumi over the divine transmission.

"If Hashiba does use one of the Four Sacred Beasts, we can handle it. ...You know what I mean, don't you?"

What she means? wondered Asama with a mental tilt of the head.

...Is Masa saying she'll use the Suzaku to fight the Genbu?

Mal-Ga: "Is she going to get her god of war all destroyed again?"

Marube-ya: "Before, we would bet on whether Masa would get her Suzaku destroyed, but lately everyone's figured out that she doesn't do that when she's using a rifle. Oh, but that wasn't the case against the Terrestrial Dragon, so there was a lot of money flying around then."

Azuma: "I'm impressed she can get it fixed so quickly."

Smoking Girl: "That's because I use cheap spare parts. IZUMO's internal brand MINO makes them for export, but I buy them direct before they're exported."

...Our shrine is the one that arranges that, isn't it?

Shinto managed all of the Far East's infrastructure and distribution.

While the merchants could only trade with neighboring nations, Shinto could sell to the entire Far East as a network of shrines.

They were of course limited to selling Shinto products, but since IZUMO was the head of Shinto, IZUMO products could be sold and distributed to any part of the Shinto network.

Naomasa's Suzaku was the same.

Smoking Girl: "I use the commercial female heavy god of war parts that have high heat and cold resistance. Although I do expand on that by adding a few parts to the frame to make it bigger."

Tachibana Wife: "You mean those talons weren't just to make it look cool?"

Smoking Girl: "Those are for moving around on the ship. They catch on the height differences and hold points."

Novice: "Eh...? They're for something so boring...?"

Four Eyes: "Because she isn't a child."

But those two were cut off by Masazumi.

Vice President: "In other words, she is a very grounded individual."

Asama took those words at face value.

But after about 7 seconds of silence from the others, it hit her.

Asama: "Oh! That was meant as a joke that continued the criticism of Neshinbara-kun!"

Vice President: "Don't explain it!"

Hori-ko: "Masazumi-sama, that one may have been too subtle."

"Wait!"

Toori waved at them from where he had been doing some astronomical observation.

He was now wearing a long-haired black wig he had gotten from somewhere.

"Seijun has finally escaped the narrow confines of her own empty jokes and instead started poking fun at others! Did you hear that!? She made it a joke at someone else's expense, but she still managed to make it an empty joke trapped in her own little world! She hasn't changed at all, but I think we should all applaud her effort."

Horizon swung her lower leg to kick Toori right in the butt.

The idiot briefly hung in the air in a seated position, and then...

"Wh-what was that for!?"

"Why are you trying to sound like a girl, Toori-sama?"

"W-well, I felt like you'd nearly turned me into one there. But whatever. ...So, Seijun, can you sum up what we're talking about?"

"I can," said Masazumi with a nod.

She looked to the Reine des Garous who was seated next to the campfire between them.

"The Reine des Garous's information about Hashiba having one of the Four Sacred Beast gods of war will be useful after the Siege of Odawara. Because we'll be up against them at Sekigahara or the Osaka Campaign."

So...

"If we are to utilize that information, we must succeed at the Siege of Odawara."

That's true, thought Asama.

She turned toward the Reine des Garous and everyone else did the same.

And that incarnation of volume responded to their gazes.

"I hate to interrupt your discussion, but do you have a moment?"

She gave a quick wink to Asama.

...Eh?

Asama had no idea what this was about, but the woman's nose twitched as everyone tilted their heads.

"Excuse me, but you have the same adorable scent as my daughter."

"What scent...would that be?"

The Reine des Garous stood up.

She took half a step. They were farther apart than that, yet the woman still covered the distance. Was it a special way of walking or carrying her body? Regardless, she leaned in close enough to bite Asama's left ear and whispered to her.

"It's a scent that says 'I want to be with you', so it caught my attention."

Asama just about asked "with who?" on reflex.

"Ah."

But she saw Mitotsudaira beyond the volume.

She was holding her hand horizontally flat and lowering it over and over. The gesture probably meant "calm down".

Asama: "Okay. Okay, Mito!"

Silver Wolf: "Find a way to dodge the issue! Before it spreads to me!"

Mitotsudaira seemed to have some kind of serious problem to deal with, so...

Asama: "Mito, I'm sorry."

Silver Wolf: "Eh?"

Asama gave the Reine des Garous a smile and then spoke.

"You must be noticing your own scent. Mito told me how well you get along with her father."

"Oh, well said."

The parent smiled.

And she moved her cheek in close.

Eh? thought Asama as several warning sign frames appeared around her. This was the loup-garou queen and Hexagone Française's representative. Since she was a mystical creature and had powerful ether, she was a dangerous person to have so close.

Asama felt it was rude, but she did not have the focus to spare on closing the sign frames.

The Reine des Garous had no interest in criticizing her and in fact instantly assessed the varieties of sign frames.

"You're looking at this at an impressive level."

With that, she sniffed Asama. She did it a second and third time on the right side of her face.

"Oh, this scent."

That reminded Asama of something.

She had been facing left.

In the tent the night before, they had pretended to sleep after he woke up.

And after that, it was this cheek that had used his arm as a pillow.

The Reine des Garous then moved right up in front of Asama's face. That naturally placed something in front of her eyes.

...She's so big...

And not her height. Her boobs.

Asama viewed that size while she let the Reine des Garous sniff her.

...Oh, I know what this is.

Comparatively speaking, this had to be how Adele felt when looking at her.

Yet as she stared at the Reine des Garous...

Asama: "I don't feel the urge to say anything like Adele always does to Kimi and me..."

Flat Vassal: "That's because it's not as depressing when you already have some for yourself! There's a huge difference between starting with nothing and starting with something!"

Silver Wolf: "I-I would say I'm starting with something, but I'm still feeling that urge!"

Wise Sister: "Heh heh heh. As the Boobs Brahmin at the top of the boobs caste, it can be hard to understand the suffering of the Boobs Shudra."

Hori-ko: "Caste-wise, I would be a Boobs Kshatriya, which I believe should be abbreviated as boo-ya."

Is that how it works? But once Asama thought about it, it actually worked out pretty well since a shrine maiden like her was a Brahmin and a royal like Horizon was a Kshatriya.

Asama: "No, wait. That doesn't work with Mito."

Silver Wolf: "Um? Tomo? What doesn't work with me?"

But during that exchange...

"——————"

She was licked on the forehead.

It was a small action. It only elicited an "Oh?" from those who noticed. But...

"Mother...! What are you doing!?"

"Oh? But Nate, I'm giving you an advantage here."

Asama could not even guess what that meant.

...How does Mito's mom licking me give Mito an advantage?

But Mito seemed opposed to this.

"Tomo! H-hurry down to the washing station, scrub your face with a face-washer, dry off with a towel, go to my king, and rub your forehead on him!"

"I shouldn't be so confused after you gave that much detail!"

"Judge." Horizon raised her right hand while sweating. "Has Mitotsudaira-sama finally joined Asama-sama in crazy town?"

"You're saying I was already crazy, aren't you!? Aren't you!?"

But then she heard laughter.

It was the Reine des Garous. She turned toward Horizon and then Toori next to her. He was using a hand mirror to check how his black wig looked.

"What do you think, Nate Maman? Does it look good on me?"

"Yes, such things look far better on you than I would have guessed."

"Good, good," he said.

She smiled back at him and then returned to her seat. She then glanced over at Asama.

"You have a wonderful scent. ...When two people are together enough for their scents to permeate each other, the result is twice as rich."

"I see..."

Is that how it works? was her only thought. She tried surreptitiously sniffing her shoulder, but she could not detect anything other than the perfume she was wearing.

Then the Reine des Garous lightly swept her hair through the night air.

"I more or less understand your connections now since that method is much more informative than asking through words. It seems your connections are fairly complex, but..."

She looked to Toori and Horizon.

"That king and her are at the center, aren't they?"

The Reine des Garous was glad she had come her tonight.

...That scent won't be as clear once they reach the Musashi tomorrow.

They were out in nature. In a forest. This was an unfamiliar land, but it was filled with scents familiar to a wolf's nose. It was the best environment for picking up an individual's scent and selecting particular aspects of it.

Her daughter's king had several scents on him, but those of his sister and the Musashi princess next to him were quite strong. But her daughter and the shrine representative girl's scents were just as strong. Much fainter was the ninja's. Yes, this is most likely the scent of that ninja that visited our home before.

...And there are many more like that.

He must have gone to many lands, met many people, and seen many battlefields.

And that was sure to continue.

"As long as you don't give up, you will conquer the world, won't you?"

"Yeah, and that's how we'll gather Horizon's emotions and figure something out about the Apocalypse. We'll also figure something out about the world's other problems. Isn't that right, Seijun?"

"Judge. That is correct. Well said, Aoi. Gold star. ...C'mon, everyone, tell him what a good job he did."

"Wh-what are you, an elementary school teacher!? Wait, you are, aren't you!? I lose this round!"

"Oh, Toori-sama, that was an unexpected ending to that one. Gold star. ...Now, everyone, tell him what a good job he did."

Nevertheless, they all applauded with fake smiles. It seemed to be some kind of ritual, so the Reine des Garous joined in. And once her daughter's king began swinging around an imaginary sword, the Musashi Vice President cleared her throat.

She slowly turned toward the Reine des Garous.

"Reine des Garous, I will now give you some secret Musashi information."

Meaning...

"Is it something we and the other nations are not yet aware of?"

"Yes." The Musashi Vice President placed her right hand on her hip and her left on her chest. "To be honest, this is an idea I have kept hidden in my heart, so it has yet to be reviewed by the Treasurer, Secretary, 1st Special Duty Officer, or 'Musashi'. That means I still don't know how practical it is, but..."

"Let me hear it. I can decide how meaningful it is."

"I appreciate it," replied the girl without relaxing her expression.

However, the Asama Shrine Representative took action by opening a sign frame.

"I'll set up a barrier to block both sound and images. You can speak after that, Masazumi."

For just a moment, a slight wind seemed to surround the meeting space. Then they heard a sound like the wind blowing through bamboo leaves.

"Masazumi, you can speak now."

"Judge. Thank you."

"Oh, it's nothing," said the Asama Shrine Representative with a bit of a smile. The Reine des Garous had a thought as she watched that girl.

...I see.

These were powerful people.

This group, including her daughter, was not just here because they were classmates.

They also had their camaraderie of the powerful.

The Reine des Garous thought, This is a strange sort of battle formation.

When she had smelled the Asama Shrine Representative earlier, she had detected the scents of her daughter's king, his sister, her daughter herself, and Far Eastern cooking. It had all been overlaid on the uniquely transparent scent of purification. However...

...She must be as close to their king as Nate is.

The Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Special Duty Officers were also here.

A look around showed the others here also tended to be on the front line or holding important points in the combat records. Since the former imperial crown prince was also here, the entire class had to be the center of Musashi.

Were they elites?

What she did know was that the powerful leaders of various fields had gathered around her daughter's king.

This was a little different from the situation in Hexagone Française.

The members of her nation's main force all belonged to the academy, but they were divided into different classes based on combat style or occupation, making it all feel more like guilds. That was why they formed organizations where they could "gather", such as the Student Council or Chancellor's Officers.

That had the advantage of not restricting interaction between school year and of helping maintain the Student Council and Chancellor's Officers as organizations. Most nations did not have an age restriction for students and that meant some people would hold an office for a long period of time. This was meant to ease some of the problems that would cause.

If they did try to shove everyone into a single class like this one, there would be issues with school year differences and combat style differences. After all, Hexagone Française was beginning the history recreation of their national army, so they strictly divided their classes between combat style so they could train separately.

...If we do all need to gather, we just use the rooms for the Student Council or Chancellor's Officers.

She found it all to be stifling, so she just let everyone do as they pleased. But if she were to join an environment like the one her daughter had...

"Now, then."

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Musashi Vice President.

"Listen, everyone. This isn't something worth bringing up as an official topic at the meeting with Houjou and Mouri tomorrow. It really is that minor, but... I will probably ask all of you to gather some information, so I will say it while I can," she said. "After this battle with Houjou and Mouri, I want to participate in P.A. Oda's actions in some form. I believe we will need to intervene in Nobunaga's assassination at the Honnouji Incident that will probably occur during summer break."